Telekom Malaysia

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NEW DELHI: GSM service provider Spice Communications on Monday announced a $2.5-bn expansion plan for the next three years to establish a pan-India presence. The company is 49% owned by Telekom Malaysia and has operations in Punjab and Karnataka circles. Spice also announced that it will come out with two IPOs ? the first before the year-end to offload up to 20% stake and raise between $250 and $300m, and the second in December '07 to raise another $350m. JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Enam Securities have been appointed as merchant bankers for the first IPO, company chairman Dilip Modi said.

NEW DELHI: Spice Telecom will go ahead with its proposed IPO, and further talks related to a merger with Aditya Birla owned Idea Cellular will happen after the listing of the company, a top Spice executive told ET. The executive said the IPO will assign a valuation to the company. ET had reported on May 28 that a major consolidation in the telecom sector could be on the cards as discussions have begun between Spice Telecom and Idea Cellular for a possible merger, whose outcome can go either way. According to unconfirmed reports on Wednesday, Idea Cellular had finalised deal to buy out Spice Telecom for about Rs 4,500 crore.

COLOMBO: International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank has inked a $100 million deal with Sri Lanka's biggest mobile operator, Dialog Telekom, which is strengthening its telecommunication infrastructure to take on its rival Airtel. Washington-based IFC will lend $70 million in debt, while the balance would be used to buy shares from Dialog's parent company, Telekom Malaysia, officials said. "Our investment in Dialog is the largest we have ever made here, where we currently have an exposure of just over $90 million in telecoms, ports, financial services and power," IFC's Country Manager for Sri Lanka Gilles Galludec told reporters on Monday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Communications, Malaysia's biggest cell-phone company by users, said it aims to enter India and Indonesia in two years to counter slowing growth at home. The company is looking for partnership or takeover opportunities in the two countries, Chairman Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor told reporters in Kuala Lumpur after a shareholders' meeting. With almost half of Malaysia's 25 million people having mobile phones, Kuala Lumpur-based Maxis wants to tap potential markets overseas following nearest rival Telekom Malaysia.

CHANDIGARH: Mobile operator Spice Telecom on Monday said it has bagged the licence to operate National and International Long Distance (NLD/ILD) services in India, allowing the company to carry both voice and data traffic nationally and internationally. "Spice Communications has been granted NLD/ILD licenses by the Department of Telecommunication," Dilip Modi, Chairman & Managing Director, Spice Telecom said in a release issued here on Monday. National and International Long Distance is a high-growth industry segment with an annual growth rate of about 50 per cent.

MUMBAI: Cellular operator Spice Communications Ltd on Tuesday announced a price band of Rs 41-46 for its initial public offer to raise up to Rs 520 crore. The company would issue around 11.3 crore shares through a 100 per cent book-building process. The issue would open on June 25 and closes on June 27. Spice would raise about Rs 465 crore at the lower band and Rs 520 crore at the upper band. The proceeds would be used for expansion and paying debt. "We have also concluded a pre-IPO placement of 2.48 crore shares at Rs 45 per share, raising about Rs 112 crore.

MUMBAI: AV Birla group telecom company Idea Cellular is buying out the Modi group's stake in Spice Communications, taking complete control of the cellular firm. After it buys the Modi stake, Idea will make a mandatory open offer for 20% of Spice. ET had reported on the impending deal in edition on June 4. The Modis, currently Spice promoters, are likely to sell their entire stake and exit the company. Subsequently, the two companies will be merged. Telekom Malaysia, which owns less than 40% of Spice, will hold a stake in the combined entity.

MUMBAI: Talks between Idea Cellular, India's sixth-largest wireless operator, and the BK Modi-owned Spice Telecom on a merger have broken down due to differences in price, a person close to the negotiations said. The two sides had held preliminary discussions on the possibility of a merger or an acquisition by Idea three-four weeks ago. Idea, which is present in 11 out of the country's 23 circles, was keen on expanding its subscriber base. But it baulked at the price being demanded by Spice Telecom.

Idea set to buy out Modis from Spice The AVB Group-owned Idea Cellular is buying out the Modis from Spice Communications, taking complete control of the mobile company. The two will then be merged. Telekom Malaysia, which owns a shade less than 40% in Spice, will hold a stake in the combined entity. Spice shares closed at Rs 51.95 on Friday, down 3% from their previous close. At this price, the market capitalisation of Spice is around $850 million.

MUMBAI: The market sentiment is likely to remain jittery ahead of the government's crucial decision on fuel price hike. Analysts believe that the market reaction will depend on the extent of the hike. The union cabinet is slated to meet on Wednesday to take a decision on fuel price hike. The meeting is expected to approve a hike in petrol and diesel prices even as the government may decide to cushion the impact on consumers by reducing duties. The government also plans to ask state government to cap sales tax on petrol and diesel at 20 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.